Corruption
by Retro Nerd Studios
Summary: Takes place at the end of Mega man Battle Network 5: Team Protoman. The final battle is set and done, and Regal is nearly defeated, but when Regal tries to turn the tide of battle, an unexpected even occurs... Please leave a review!
1. Chapter 1

"Battlechip in! Download!" Lan Hikari yelled. The chip downloaded into the net mainframe and into his NetNavi Megaman. He used this chip to defeat the dark manifestation of human souls, NebulaGrey. The dark program burst in a field of light; small explosions. Its creator, Dr. Regal, was frantically entering commands from his SoulServer console. Lan was cheering for his Navi. "Good job, Megaman!"

"Thanks Lan," he answered, "But we both defeated Regal." Regal chuckled. He quickly pulled out another disc from his pocket.

"Luckily I anticipated this," Regal told himself as he installed the disc. The power of this new program shocked Lan through his PET. He fell unconscious with Megaman still jacked into the SoulServer. Regal got off of his platform and took Lan's MagnoMetal amulet. He got back up on his platform and intensified the power, increasing the emotional distress of the world, except of Regal, who was safe thanks to Tadashi Hikari. Everyone surrounding Lan's captive father fell to the ground. Regal watched the new program manifest within SoulNet. Megaman chuckled and looked at Regal.

"Do you think that this power will stop me from stopping you?" Megaman asked. Regal looked closely at Megaman. He looked more deranged. His face was pitch-black, with red triangular eyes. His armor was turning pitch-black, with his Navi mark turning solid red. Regal didn't know what happened. His console said that his program was installing into SoulNet just like he intended. He stepped back.

"What's going on? There's more dark power than I installed." Regal said. Megaman laughed at him.

"Then perhaps you need a demonstration of what an overflow of dark energy can do," Those words were the last thing Regal heard before all hell broke loose. Regal heard explosions coming from outside. He had no choice. He had to escape. He heard the breaking of staircases and support columns. He decided that it would be wiser to stay in the room with the others.

"What do I do?" Regal asked himself. He pulled out an anti-virus software disc from his pocket. He took the other disc out and installed this new one. He waited for Megaman to return to normal, or at least, to turn into an average Darkloid, one that Regal could manipulate like he did with the rest of Nebula's Navies.

"What's wrong Regal?" the corrupted data asked. "Had enough yet? I'm just getting started." It unleashed a flurry of dark power over the SoulNet, infecting tainting everyone but Regal with evil, including Lan. "I thought this was what you wanted. I thought you wanted the world to be tainted with darkness and chaos."

"But not like this! I wanted the world to be tainted so that everyone would be individually evil; You created a world where I'm the only human left in existence."

"That's not true," Megaman said as he motioned to the emptiness of his virtual surroundings, "Just look at everyone in this room," The dark Navi's twisted mug appeared on the screen where Megaman was jacked in. He laughed. Everyone in the room stood up, as if in a trance. Regal backed up.

"I never installed the dark power in you," Regal said.

"That is true, however, you programmed it to install into the darkest thing in the SoulServer. Did you forget that?"

"Apparently I didn't calculate that you had some darkness in you," Regal admitted. He looked the Darkloid in the cold, calculating, red, triangular eyes. Back in the SoulNet, Megaman looked around at his new targets. He saw BlizzardMan, ShadeMan, CloudMan, and CosmoMan. Even with this new surge of dark power, Megaman never forgot how they opposed him. He then looked at his former comrades, ProtoMan, MagnetMan, GyroMan, NapalmMan, SearchMan, Meddy, as well as his friends GutsMan, Glyde, and even, Roll. Megaman used his newfound power to pull the DarkSword chip from Lan's person. He activated the chip. His hand morphed into a sword of pure darkness. He took one step and used the sword's power to annihilate the four Darkloids. He then approached each of the other Navi's and slowly slaughtered each of the other Navis. He spared ProtoMan and Roll.

"Now, I have a public image of anyone who tries to defy me," Megaman said to ProtoMan. He touched Roll's cheek. "And you, my new queen."

"That's enough Megaman," Roll said, trying to reason with pure dark power. Megaman laughed and took his sword to her throat. ProtoMan took his sword and knocked Megaman's blade away.

"Roll's right, Megaman," ProtoMan said. Megaman laughed evilly. ProtoMan then realized that this wasn't Megaman anymore. This was corrupted data beyond repair. ProtoMan didn't care; he wanted to save his friend.

"Foolish ProtoMan," the corrupted Darkloid said, "You do not understand, nor can you comprehend, my full potential." He knocked ProtoMan to the edge of the platform. "As soon as I deal with you and that pathetic Regal, my new dark empire will be complete!" We watched in the real world as Regal was attacked by his dark minions. ProtoMan was on the edge.

Megaman pushed ProtoMan off of the edge. Or did he?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I decided to continue this story one chapter further, so enjoy:

Protoman woke up in the Undernet. He once heard a Wiseman say that "You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Maybe that was just something out of one of Chaud's favorite movies. Either way, it still applied. He looked closely at his surroundings. He first noticed that his comrades, who had been slain my Megaman moments earlier, were up and about. If he could cry, he'd shed a tear right now. He also saw Megaman, who looked completely fine. He looked at himself, and noticed that he was tainted with Dark Energy. He felt a sharp pain which could only be described as "A star suddenly popping out of existence."

" _Protoman_ ," a voice called out to him. Protoman didn't recognize the voice. It seemed to loom over him, like a NetOp's voice to their NetNavi. " _Here's your chance at renewal,"_ it said.

"I don't understand," Protoman conversed with the voice.

" _I'm giving you another chance at the Dark Power,"_ it said. Protoman still looked longingly at his friends, whom he watched be brutally murdered moments earlier. " _In this world, there are no consequences. Here is your chance to train to defeat Megaman. Or are you afraid to return? That's okay. I'll just permanently delete you..."_

"Enough!" He cried, "I'll do it. I'll stop Megaman."

" _Good boy. Of course I don't mean this Megaman. I mean that corrupted piece of software up in the Net."_ Protoman learned all sorts of tricks from the voice. He was ready. The voice returned him.

"Ah, Protoman," the pure evil said, "I didn't think you'd be alive after that." His voice was high pitched.

"It's time I finally delete you!" Protoman said as he clashed with Megaman for one final time. The winner is up to you...

A/N: I know that was pretty short, and that the ending wasn't any better than the last one, but still. If you want to say anything, leave a review!


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